>> bill: tuesday is go time. but we are your place for complete coverage. see you back here tomorrow in america's newsroom, at 9:00 a.m. >> martha: they are checking out the mikes and they are ready to party. we are ready to party. we will be here all week. america's election headquarters with shannon bream, starts right now. >> his political answer is to say, look... let's divide america. let's have americans attack one another. let's bede devicive and derisive and that's not the right course. >> shannon: the gloves are off in a fight for moment up to the white house. governor romney is hoping cokeep his surge going and president obama is on a four-state battleground tour on his way to charlotte. we have live coverage from ed hepry in colorado and mirk emanuel in charlotte and

mystery brightest political minds in america. but first, a senior obama administration and long-time official at immigration and customs, suzanna barr has quit amid allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior. >> reporter: suzanne barr was the chief of staff for immigrations and customs enforcement. she resigned yesterday amid accusations of calling one colleague a sexy expletive and explained to the director of i.c.e., quote... >> reporter: an i.c.e.

spokesman tells us... we have received her scprgz we wish her the best of luck. peter cane says the resignation of suzanne barr raises the most serious questions about management practices and personnel policies at the department of homeland security. the committee on homeland security will continue and intensify its review of all the facts regarding this case and dhs personnel practices across the board. suzanne barr also wrote the allegations against her are unfounded and without any merit and she is confident her reputation will be restored. but she resigned -- he said, so the men and women who risk their lives for i.c. e. can focus on i.crementd -- c.e.'s mission. >> shannon: thank you very much.

governor mitt romney's taking a day off from the campaign trail. but he is sending the message that obama is a failed president. and president obama is touring several battleground states, trying to convince voters it is better to stick with a president they know. ed henry is with the president in boulder, colorado. >> reporter: good afternoon. the president was working on his big speech for thursday night when he accepts the nomination in charlotte on the way to iowa. what he was doing was laying out the big themes we expect to see from the speech, that he is standing up for the middle class, he wants tax fairness, a theme that republicans have been harp hammering for months, saying it is about class warfare. and as the president works his way through these battleground states, his 8s say he wasn't paying attention at all to the republican national convention, but for someone who was not watching, he seemed well versed or well briefed by his staff

about what exactly happened, as he ripped into mitt romney and charged that his ideas are simply outdated. >> when governor romney had a chance to let you in on his secret sauce... he didn't offer you a single new idea. it was just a retread of the same old politicses that have been sticking it to the middle class for years. so you heard him talk a lot about me. you heard him talk a lot about mitt. they didn't talk a lot about you. >> reporter: governor romney did not let that go unchallenged. he was in ohio and using the kickoff of the college football season to say, if you have a coach who has been losing a lot of games, you fire him and it

was time to put a new person in the oval office to call the plays on the economy and other key issues. we are told that governor romney will be sending out his number 2, paul ryan, to north carolina tomorrow, to push back on the attacks from the obama campaign. >> shannon: ed henry, traveling with the president. thank you. >> i wish president obama had succeeded because i want new york succeed. but his promises gave way to disappointment and division. this isn't something we have to accept. now is the moment when we comek do something and with your help, we doll something. >> shannon: it was a hit with the g.o.p. supporters. we are getting our first glimpse of the post convention poll. rasmussen shows a 2-point increase. and the real clear politics shows less than a half percentage point spread between the two. both men have been on the cam paib trail this weekend.

joe trippi and david winston tick a electric at what we can expect from the president this week and their poll predictions as well. gentlemen, thanks for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> shannon: david, i want to start with you. did governor romney do a good enough job making his case? the president and david axelrod said there were no concrete ideas in his speech? >> i disagree. he set up the five-point plan, in terms of what he was going to begin to lay out as the election goes forward. this country been in a political equilibrium. the race hasn't changed. whether the electorate, is they view and the president did stop the 600,000 job a month loss, but we have had 8% unemployment or higher, but the electorate is really unhappy with the president, but they are not ready to play 52-card pickup with the economy. the key thing for governor romney to do is to lay out the alternative. i think he began that process.

>> shannon: joe, i am guessing you would disagree. butta is the mood like in charlotte and what does president obama have to do this week to win over voters in an exceptionally tight race? >> well, first of all, i agree with david that the convention was the start of laying out the romney plan. you can't do it in one night and 3 days at a convention. you know, this is going to be something he has to start. i think they did a pretty goodion of starting it. although i would have laid out more of a plan. the president has to lay out a stark contrast between rom ne's policies and his own. this isn't about blaming bush -- if he starts to blame bush or do that stuff, people don't want to hear about what the past, they want to hear about where he wants to take the country. he has to lay out a plan as well. that's where we have to go for the final stages of this thing. i agree with david, too, this is a very, very close race, going

to stay close all the way to the end. but i think the candidate that projects exactly what their plan is for the future -- obviously, shoves off the past. that's what obama will have to do. person who has a plan and the people gravitate, that's the answer, i believe in that plan -- that's the one who will win this thing. >> shannon: david, let's talk about the rasmussen poll that we referenced in your introduction, showing romney at 47 and obama at 44. you know, history shows us, there is a convention bounce. most of the time. do you think there is any significance to this number? why wheredo you think we go from here? >> i think this is different. he had a slight bounce. but i think the electorate is very unhappy about the political discourse in general. they are looking at the conventions differently. they want to know, as joe is defining, who will propose the future that will solve this economic problem? i think you are going to see the

public be more staid in its reaction because they want the substance. going back to joe's point, this idea that maybe the governor should have laid out more -- it's very hard in a situation where i have to say a lot of media is bored with policy, clint eastwood got a lot more coverage than the mitt romney five point, as an example. what you will watch over time, it is not the specific bounce and i think you will see a little one for the president. but how does this evolve, as this debate about the better definition of the futures and i think that's the central thing that we will watch as it evolves. >> so when we look at the swing state polls in ohio and virginia, i mean, this race is so tight, it's within less than a percentage point and many of those key states. how does the president break away to the states that is critical for whichever side of the ticket is planning to win. >> it is tight.

look, with the convention bounce, what is going to happen, the traditional bounce is five%. i think that's what romney's going to get out of his, might be a little more or a little less. but those are dated models because those are things we need to look at when the conventions were a month apart. the obama campaign's going to jump right on top of this, with the convention here, here in charlotte. and everything they are talking about right now, it's really to 250,000 voters in ohio, florida, i mean, out of mill whereons of people across the country, they are really focusing on 200 or 250,000 swing voters, north carolina, they want to try to pick this state off. it's a dead heat here. they are going to use this convention to organize in north carolina, like they did in colorado, four years ago with the denver convention, try to -- they recruited 25,000 volunteers

at the denver convention. they will try to do the same thing here. this is really about projecting out a very small number of voters who will decide this and revving up the base to make sure they turn out. >> one thing that the president's facing that i think is particularly challenging is the fact that the day after his speech, the new jobs report is going to come out. that's his monthly report card. one of the elements that i am sure that the democratic side is worried about is the jobs report. one of the jobs of the romney campaign how does he make the number-1 issue, the number-1 issue, having the jobs report the day after the president gives his speech is the way to do that for the republicans. >> shannon: we will be watching thursday night and friday morning on the key happenings. david winston and joe trippi, thank you both very much. the rnc convention has wrapped. the crowds have left tampa. it is time for charlotte to take the spotlight as the democrats plan their rebuttal. do you plan to watch the dnc

speeches? if so, who are you looking forward to and why? tweet us your answers. we will read some of your responses, later on in the show. the u.s. has decided it is time to stop training some afghan security forces in an effort to stop a growing number of insider attacks. tell last a month and give the military time to do stricter background checks on recruits to the afghan police, a government-backed militia. 49 troops have been killed this year in a string of attacks by afghan soldiers and police who were supposed to be their allies. hurricane isaac has started to push its way north, through the mississippi valley, into the midwest. the high winds rolling into illinois and missouri spawned at least four tornadoes yesterday. but on the positive side that, rain is providing much-needed relief, soaking the peamped land that has been suffering a severe

drought, especially near the ohio river valley. many people in louisiana are still picking up the pieces and dealing with massive flooding left by isaac. >> right now, they are just getting to where they can get out to get their food or fresh water or even see anybody else. >> we are watching the water go down and t back in and salvage whatever we can. >> shannon: the pearl river is set to crest and that could be trouble for the mississippi river. but first we go to maria molina to look at the major trouble spots. >> good it see you. unfortunately, many of the rivers in southeastern louisiana are looking at a crest. major flooding is occurring. we have a number of flood warnings in southeastern louisiana, as well as flashflood warnings, due to the rivers cresting. otherwise, the one slight bit of good news is that we are not looking at any additional

rainfall. so many of them will recede throughout this afternoon and into the next several days. now the remnants of isaac are bringing, like you mentioned -- some much-needed relief to the drought conditions in the midwest. today, we are expecting the rainfall in parts of the state of ohio and ken tucky and tennessee. one thing we have to vote -- to note that in nashville and huntsville issue we could be seeing severe weather in the form of large hail and damaging wind gusts. but on the drought monitor, looking at rain where we need it. >> shannon: thank you very much. we will check back. next up, an intimate look inside the romney family, the hard work, the sacrifice and the joy from the matriarch of the family. >> even now, i mean, when we're all together, there is nothing we love more than -- but there is a lot of us, there are about 30 of us. because you know, we have 10 adult children and 18

grandchildren and mitt and myself. that's quite a on the of people. it doesn't matter how chaotic or noisy it is, mitt is loving every second of it. >> shannon: my one-on-one exclusive with ann romney about life on and off the campaign trail, coming up. ♪ why should saturday night have all the fun? get two times the points on dining in restaurants, with chase sapphire preferred.

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>> tonight, i want to talk to you about love. i want to talk to you about the deep and abiding love for a man i met at a dance many years ago. and the profound love i have and i know we share for this country. >> shannon: many are still buzzing about ann rom no's speech and whether it accomplished the goal of personalizing her husband as more than just a businessman and a politician. i have an interview with ann romney about what she wants the world to know about mitt romney. >> this is a guy you can trust. this is a guy who will get the job done. this is a guy who will not fail. i really mean that. i have seen him. everything he has done in his

life, attacked things that seemed impossible to fix. and even though, the troubles we face in this nation are very serious, i trust that he is the one person that can fix them. >> shannon: did you talk about the speech afterwards? what happened after he came on the stage? >> yeah, it was really fun. mitt, of course, surprised me, coming on the stage. then we went back to the box. some of my daughters-in-law were crying quite hard, want just tears. one was sobbing. my boys all had a tear in their eyes. i think they were moved by the speech. i think they were also so proud of me, so that was wonderful. but then when we went home, a lot of my grandchildren were there, not the real little ones, but most of the grandchildren were at the speech. i was in my hotel room and the door opened and about 15 of these little kids stormed in the door, tackled me, threw me on the dprownd, jumping all over

me, hugging me, laughing. they just -- i mean -- they were so cute. i mean, they just were -- that was quite a greeting i got. and the boys dribbled in, one by one and just hugged and hugged and hugged and were so proud of me. they were still my boys were still emotional by the time this had been, you know, quite a while after. because woe sat through chris's great address. and my boys were quite emotional. it was a great night. >> shannon: is that the kind of thing that gives you energy to keep going on the campaign? >> oh, yeah. absolutely. the fact that they believe in us, that they are there for us, that they are such great role models for others as l. i am so proud of them. i am so proud of the fact that they are good husbands and good dads themselves. there is nothing more a mother wants than to see her child happy. my boys are all -- they have married beautiful girls and they

have happy marriages. it is all very good. >> shannon: how is it to raise five boys, honestly? >> it wasn't easy t. really wasn't easy. i felt like the major most of the time. their father participate in the shenanigans and instigated most of it -- like he was my other child. for me, i was always trying to calm it down a little bit, quiet it down a little bit. and he would come in and it would go crazy again. the energy and the fun. even now, i mean, when we are all together, there is nothing we love more -- but there is a lot of us when we are all together, there is about 30 of us. we have the 10 adult children and the 18 grandchildren and mitt and myself. that's gite a lot of people. it doesn't matter how chaotic it is, how noisy it is, mitt is

loving every second of t. after a while, i can only take so much and i have to find a quiet corner. but he loves all of that give and take and the bantering and, you know, the pranks and the mischief that the grandkids get involved with. he love its. >> shannon: it sounds like the campaign trail. >> the chaos? for me, having had this great blessing of raising all boys taught me to be resilient and flexible. also taught me to really appreciate where those boys were coming from and to learn to share your feelings and to really put things on the table. i have changed. they have changed me in a good way, where i am much more open with my feelings, much more honest with what is going on. and much easier to sort of walk away and forgive because, they

would blow up, you know? and then it's over. it's a great dustup and then it's done. that's an interesting thing for me to watch and see how the boys are able to do that. i have learned a lot from raising them. >> shannon: coming up, part 2 of my special interview with ann romney and how difficult it is to deal with the attacks on her husband and how much tougher she happenings this campaign is about to get. up next on america's news headquarters, the medicare fight, which presidential candidate's plan could safety program? could -- which could bankrupt it? we report you decide itch the greatest threat to medicare is obamacare and we are going to stop it. well, i had all the classic symptoms... like the elephant on my chest... he thought he was having a heart attack. she said, "take an aspirin, we need to go to the hospital." i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor

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>> paul ryan stood on that platform and looked up at that debt clock and made no mention of the fact that he voted for every single one of the policies in the last decade that are at the root of the explosion of the undebt, two unpaid wars, two unpaid tax cuts, an unpaid medicare prescription drug program. they have no standing to talk about the deficit. >> shannon: that was ax a, unleashing his attacks on the republicans after the week-long convention in tampa. now, it's the democrats' turn. more with chris wallace and his

interview with the obama administration campaign strategist. have you moved to charlotte. you talked with david axelrod about how thing his gone last week with the republicans, whether mitt romney was acceptable in rolling out his message and you wanted to talk about the president's message as well. that was a tougher thing to get mr. david axelrod to discuss. >> it's part of their strategy. they have things they defend. they talk about the fact that the economy was in terrible shape, worse shape than they thought when the president came into office and some of the things he has done. but they like to switch the subject to mitt romney and what they say is a lack of answers and policy going forward. in fact, not only -- not going forward, but going backward. that's a theme you are going to hear. the president on the campaign trail yesterday said, watching the republican convention was like watching black-and-white television with rabbit ears on the top of the television, the

idea being that their prescriptions for the country are outdated and would take us back to the bad old days. >> shannon: you did press axlerod on how he plans to balance the budget? >> yeah. well, i kind of was a setup because i said to him, how does he plan to balance the budget? he got animated and started talking about how the ryan plan doesn't balance the budget. but of course he knew why i was asking, that the president, according to the congressional budget office, never balances the budget. never addresses the major structural problems with entitlements like medicare. so -- look, neither of these are perfect candidates. i think the best way to play defense with the obama campaign is to play offense, by attacking the other guys. >> shannon: in tampa, the latino

focus on the rnc convention, ever held by republicans. you talked to l.a. mayor villaraigosa but how hispanics feel about the democrats. >> scbem hispanic, two of the key voting blocks that the republicans went after and the democrats will go after this week. >> shannon: in a race this tight, every vote in those two blocks counts. chris have a great time in charlotte. thank you for the inside look on fox news sunday. >> can't wait to get there. >> shannon: see you soon. you can catch the interview with david axelrod, right after our show at 2:00. stay with us. we will get to the second half of my interview with ann romney in just a few minutes.

peter has our top stories. >> reporter: the polling data so far suggests that mitt romney only got a modest bounce from the convention, the most favorable are from rasmussen, showing him ahead by 3 points. now the pressure will be on the president to score some points at his own convention. israel's prim prime isurning the international community to get tougher on iran. the prime minister benjamin netanyahu told his cabinet without, quote, a clear red line, tehran will not halt its nuclear ambition. israel has threatened to attack iran over its dispute the nuclear program. the 17-year-old goirl in nevada is safe, after police rescued her from kidnappers. she was found tied up and blind-folded in a las vegas apartment complex. they have arrested two suspects on charges of kidnapping and extortion. they are believed to have a connection to her father a landscaping business.

the beer brouhaha is over. the white house has released its long-awaited recipe for a home brew. people began asking after the president let slip that he had special beer at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. the recipe can be seen on a white house blog entry called ale to the chief. >> shannon: when are you planning to brew up your first batch? >> reporter: as soon as i'm off work. >> shannon: why wait? >> reporter: yeah. >> medicare is a promise. and we will honor it. a romney/ryan administration will strengthen medicare for my mom's generation, my generation and my kids and yours. >> shannon: congressman paul ryan says the biggest threat to medicare is obamacare and the rom no/ryan ticket will put a stop to that. but could seniors fall through the cracks? we have guan -- we have

congressman garamendi. the republicans' biggest criticism has been the new health care law removes $716 billion out of medicare. is that a fair characterization. >> but the question is what does it do with the $716 billion and where did is it come from. it comes from the insurance companies that have been receiving an unnecessary bonus for the advantage program. and the rest comes from waste, fraud and abuse in the medicare system. where does it go? it goes right back into benefits for seniors and others, and the law specifically says, want one nickel can be taken from the benefits themselves. every benefit is guaranteed. furthermore, not my words, these are the words of the aarp says that the romney/ryan budget,

will in the medicare guarantee for seniors now and into the future. >> congressman mulhini, how do you respond to the charges by the democrats that what congressman ryan has proposed, he is know the top of the tick, ultimately, governor romney will take the decision and issue policy on his own and where he stands on the medicare changes, but there is a lot of attention to what congressman ryan's plans have been and nathey will hurt seniors by taking medicare as they now know it? >> sure. kihear. i apologize for that. what you have just heard, john, good to see you again. you heard the attacks on the original romney plan in 2006 and not the plan from 2012. he came up with a bipartisan proposal that changed what mr. garamendi was talking about. and the proposal of ryan keeps

traditional medicare on the table as an option for everybody. so to say that the aarp is against it, that's an older plan, it changes medicare as we know it, that's an older plan. in business, we choose what we fight against. the democrats and now mr. garamendi are attacking something that is no longer on the table. that's unfortunate. we need to have the debate. i agree with paul in tamp awe have to have a real debate about this. we welcome t. we can't sit here and fight at strawmen and argue about proposals that were made 4 and 5 years ago. >> shannon: congressman garamendi, what do you make of the fact that there was something out there, is that something you would be willing to look at. >> senator widen has moved away from the proposal that came before the house of representative. i was the insurance commissionener california for 8 years. i can actual, once you begin to divide future beneficiaries from the existing beneficiaries, the existing program will fail.

those -- that's an act yourial fact that will happen. it is clear in the 2012, as well as the 2011 romney/ryan budget and mr. romney has bought into the ryan budget, that it will terminate the guarantee of medicare for future beneficiaries and because of the nature of insurance, the existing beneficiaries will see an immediate and ever increasing increase in their share of the cost of medicare. that's want my talk. that's talk by every analyst that has been done on the issue. so what you have here is a situation in which the medicare guarantee, which is describe every person who turns 65, that guarantee ends. yes, they will be given a voucher, a voucher that over time, initially and over time will be insufficient to pay for medical care. let's understand the population that's 65 and older is a very --

is a population that has the highest health care cost. so if you are giving a voucher that doesn't keep pace with the cost, as well as the incident of illness, then you are going to increase the cost of medicare program to the individual as well as that program will fail. >> shannon: let me get a quick response. in our latest polling, when we asked who will do a better job of protecting medicare, 46% went with obama and 42 went with romney. can the romney team turn around the numbers? >> sure. i think the numbers are getting better as folks realize that a lot of what my colleague is telling you is designed to frighten seniors. there is only one program that protects the current seniors, which is the republican program. if you are 77 years old, obamacare changes your medicare program. if you are 77 years old, the

ryan program does not. it preserves medicare as it currently exists as an option. if you have to function under obamacare, current recipiens will be impacted. the folks are reacting to the facts. the seniors are taking the time to figure out who is telling the truth. what you heard john talk about is attacking an old plan. only the romney/ryan plan protects medicare as we know it. >> with great respect -- >> shannon: unfortunately, we are out of time. but we thawrch both. hope you will come back soon. the nuclear threat from iran is real, according to a brand-new report from nuclear inspectors and says the rogue nation isn't bluffing. security experts, next. [ female announcer ] they can be enlightening.

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>> shannon: a troubling new report on the iran nuclear program says they are stockpiling enriched uranium and they have doubled the number that can make nuclear warheads in an underground bunker. we have jim walsh here with his take on the latest disturbing developments. dr. walsh, thank you for your time. have you had a look at the report. what surprised you the most -- or were you surprised? >> well, i guess i wasn't too surprised. we have had a series of these quarterly reports. with each report, you can see that iran is incrementally

enriching more and more material inform this case, the surprise was, at that underground facility that you referred to, they have really made a lot of progress. i think the war talk and the talk of israel, with a possible strike, focuses their mind and they have spent more efforts trying to build centrifuges. but they haven't been used yet. so it is not dire, but it shows steady progress on the part of iran. >> shannon: you mentioned israel and i want to mention something from prime minister benjamin netanyahu who said today, it is time for world powers to set a clear red line. how pointed do you think it was to the u.s.? was it to the broader international community? signaling, you are not getting the job done. >> yeah, i mean, this has been a consistent theme from the israeli prime minister for at least a year, probably longer. yes, it is at the united states and the so-called t-5 plus 1, a

group of counselries meeting with negotiation with iran over the last several years. you know, i think president obama has been clear what his red line is. his is iran will not acquire a nuclear weapon. if they make a move in that direction, the u.s. will use whatever options necessary. israel has a different red line. they try to nudge the negotiators and the other international parties. >> shannon: you mentioned the president and his red line. he has taken criticism this week from the g.o.p. official nominee, mitt romney. let's tick a listen at what he had to say this week. >> every american was relieved the day president obama gave the order and seal team 6 took out bin laden. on another front, every american is less secure today because he has failed to slow iran's nuclear threat. >> doctor, he did praise him for taking out bin laden but said that the president has failed

when it comes to this particular issue of the nuclear threat. we are also getting news that iran has signed a deal with north korea to share laboratories and technology. how much responsibility does the current administration bear? is it fair to point a finger at them that things have ramped up under their watch in. >> yes and no. this came to light in 2003, when president bush was president. so the program was progressed and got bigger and bigger for five years with him and has continued with obama. you know, i think it's electricity -- legitimate to say, we haven't gotten further. and the president's put together a fairly strong international coalition that has imposed sanctions, but i think the candidates will go back and forth on that over the next 2 months. >> shannon: thank you very much. on this labor day weekend, a lot of folks are hitting the road, dispite the big jump in gas prices.

is there any relief in sight at the pain at the pump?

>> shannon: former supporters of

president obama now say they are fooled. hope and change that they say never came. a federal court knocks down the texas voter i.d. law. the state attorney generals tells us of plans to fight all the way to the supreme court. >> it's just horrible. >> shannon: part 2 of my exclusive one-on-one interview with ann romney. she believes the attacks against her husband will only get worse. it's getting tough at the pump. nationwide, the average rice for regular gas went up 5 cents a gallon last wednesday, record breaking. today, triple-a reports the average price is $3.quoa gallon. brenda buttner is live. all right, brenda. where do we expect the prices to go. >> you are right!

what a jump at the pump. isaac gets some of the blame, prices rising 11 cents since august 22, when the forecasters said the storm could move to the oil rigs and refinery-rich gulf. but the last two months have been tough overall. in august, national average gas prices up 31 cents or 9% a gallon, following the biggest price increase in july, a record. there was a perfect storm of sorts to whip up the prices, isaac, of course, brought on precautionary refinery closures before the hurricane hit. not much damage from the storm. but it takes time to restart them. and two non-hurricane-related mid-west pipeline shut downs and and a refinery fire in california left it at less than full capacity. and the tension in the mideast

has fueled the prices of oil. but prices may ease. the refineries in the gulf starting back up. and demand usually recedes after labor day, the traditionally end of the summer driving season and the refineries produce less expensive gas blends for cold weather. national gas prices in september had fallen 5 times in the last decade. we have a 50% chance that a trip to the gas station may be less painful soon. >> shannon: good news. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> shannon: new documents expose a relationship between the white house and hollywood. some say movie makers got preferrential treatment. a charge that the administration officials deny. how close is too close? we report. you decide. that's next. it [ pilot ] now when you build an aircraft,

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deputy national security adviser writes in a june 2011 email to senior staff at the cia and defense department press offices... >> it wasn't done in a vacuum. >> according to the email, the flor plan for the bin laden compound was confirm to the film makers. we will be building a full-scale replic aincluding the inhabitants. cia, staffer -- ha, of course! i will work on that tomorrow. it shows that the film makers were given access to a translator on the raid and a mission planner. another email in july of 2011 shows friction in the cia over a film maker tour, quotes...

in august last year, the white house brushed off claims of preferrential treatment as ridiculous. >> there is no difference in the information that we have given to anybody who is working on this topic. >> the national security council spokesman insists there was no special treatment. but in a statement, it shows that the film makers had unusual access. in washington. fox news. >> shannon: staying on message, dueling attacks in the white house. both candidates seeking to define their rivals. governor romney defining president obama as a struggling team. and president obama saying that romney would put the country back in time. after rejecting the voter i.d. law, texas says it will take the state all the way to the supreme court. we will talk to the texas

attorney general, live. calling a timeout. the u.s. military is suspending training of afghan forces, calling a do-over after a wave of insider attacks from afghan soldiers and police are supposed to be our allies and my sitdown with texas governor rick perry who said some things about the republican party and women that you might find surprising. i'm shannon bream. america's news headquarters live from the nation's capitol starts right now.

but all are within the margin of error. iowa where governor romney campaigned new it is the democrats in charlotte. president obama set a high bar in denver back in 2008 and that if he it competing against candidate obama from four years ago rather than mitt romney from 2012. the democratic faithful roll in down. what are some of the key advisors saying as they head into the huge week in charlotte? >> well, shannon, we expect things to heat up here in the between city in the coming hours in terms of the weather and also the campaign rhetoric. already on the stump today we heard vice president biden suggest that the romney ryial policies would be like president bush on steroids but you a big question today on the sunday talk show circumstance kit was asking the president's senior advisors whether the american people are better off than they were four years ago? here is how senior advisor individual axelrod handled that question from chris wallace. >> are we where we need to be?

the problem is for three days they never offered a plausible alternative. he spoke for 45 minutes and never offered any real ideas for how to move the economy forward and lift the middle class. >> reporter: so republican ares have pounced on that essentially saying that the obama senior advisors could not say that the american people are better off than they were four years ago. you heard david axel rod pivot and try to turn it around and say governor romney hasn't suggested things to help the middle class. we heard things suggesting that the reason is the obama team is not talking about his record is because eis sentencingly his record hasn't worked. he is former presidential candidate newt gingrich from earlier today. the press got the stimulus plan he wanted with no elect

hed official having read it. every single dollar and every single power. he rammed through obama care. the largest change this in the size of government in modern times. got it done. the reason people say he he didn't get anything done is it is failing. >> reporter: and it is only sunday. we expect the rhetoric to heat up as the hours go by. shannon? >> shannon: we will tune in for your reports from charlotte all week long. good to see you. >> thank you. >> shannon: governor mitt romney is taking a break from the campaign trail today but is still working. the republican presidential nominee is doing debate prep at his vacation home in new hampshire. yesterday he made stops in ohio and florida where he he hammered mr. obama on the economy and compared the president to a failed coach on a football team. >> we have 23 million americans out of work or dropped out of the work force or can't find full-time work. if there is a coach whose record is zero and 23 h million

you get rid of him and get someone new! >> beth meyers who headed mitt romney's presidential search is helping him prep for the debates along with ohio senator robman who will be playing the role of president obama. the number two guy on the ticket is to be the attack dog and gop vice presidential nominee paul ryan is back home in wisconsin. later this week he will head to north carolina to pull attention away from democrats in the tar heel state. his democratic counter part vice president joe biden held an event in york, pennsylvania, and is en route to green bay, wisconsin. biden was supposed to campaign last weekend but hurricane isaac forced him to change his plans. >> it was a rerun. we have seen it before. you might as well have watched it on a black and white tv. if you didn't dvr it, let me

recap it for you. everything is bad. it is obama's fault. and governor romney is the only one who knows the secret to creating jobs and growing the economy. >> shannon: as you would expect, president obama is not giving governor romney any credit for his convention speech last morning. his surrogates hit the sunday shows calling the platform a platform from 1812. chris takes a closer look. great to see you this morning. >> reporter: great to see you, shannon. >> shannon: i want to talk about the sound bite. the president said the message is everything is terrible and it is all his fault and only his opponent knows how to fix it. that sounds like the argument they made last time around, it is all president bus purchase d only he can fix it.

deja vu? >> the deal is barack obama was able to run talking about hope and change and emphasizing transformative but you unspecific kinds of change. now, he is is making the same accusation against governor romney. here is what is interesting in this, shannon. what you are hearing from the president now is what you would expect to hear as he rolls into convention week and gets ready to go to the sharpened more partisan tone. he has been doing it tore six months. this is totally unprecedented moment in which an incumbent president has been negative negative negative and on the attack for all these months. what it is sets us up for here in charlotte is a rough and rowdy convention where we can expect to hear democrats focused on attacking mitt romney and keeping up personal attacks pence th against the fr massachusetts governor and being extremely competitive.

>> shannon: is he competing against the mitt romney of 2012? >> he is competing against frustrated aspirations. he is competing against his own frustrated as ankle aspirationr the whole campaign mitt romney and the state of the economy. this week is tricky are for the president. there is no higher moment, no larger moment for the obama 2008 brand than when took the stage in denver. when tries to do it in charlotte he will be measured by the yard stick he set for himself in 2008, absolutely. >> shannon: i want to talk to you about something unique you are doing during the two conventions that involves twitter and the kind of data you can mine interest it. tell us what you have been able to see and what you will use this week from twitter. >> we have a special relationship with our partners at twitter for the conventions and we will be doing it the pressial and vice presidential debates that allows us to about measure not just how much traffic but what kind of traffic. it almost like asaying and we

focus group for the whole country everybody who is on twitter and we are there sifting through the results and can score and quantify what is happening when the big speeches occur. we did it for the republicans in tampa and we will do it for the democrats here in charlotte and i will confess it is great fun. >> shannon: we love it, though. we know that you have your own enpsycknowledge of twitter. thanks for joining us today from charlotte. >> thanks, shannon. have a great day. >> shannon: on tuesday the focus turns to charlotte where the president will eventually and formally accept the democratic nomination. we want to know do you plan to watch the convention speeches? if so which are you most looking forward to and why? we have gotten a whole lot of twitter feedback already. most say nope, you are not going to watch but mike says he will tune in. ", it is like watching the new york jets. you know they are not going to do anything special but it is quite entertaining.

i will let mike take that up with the jets fans. tweet your answers. we have answers to read later on in the show and we would love to have yours as well. isaac may have left but the legacy along the gulf coast is still developing. the storm caused the deaths of at least 7 people here in the u.s. just as some louisiana residents replenishing supplies there is now threat of new flooding. casey stegall has been following it for us. >> reporter: you guys talking, of course, about the d. in c. before president obama heads that way he will be here tomorrow touring parts of the gulf coast battered by isaac seeing some of this damage with his own eyes and late word this afternoon that homeland security secretary janet napolitano is making a visit to the region today. as we speak she is up on the ground in mississippi meeting with officials up there and then later this afternoon she

is going to be down here in the slidell, louisiana area which is 30 miles north of where i'm standing, one of the areas hardest hit and it is on the north side of lake ponchartrain. i got to say new orleans itself, the cityity self fared isaac pretty well. most of the flooding and evacuations and high water rescues happened in and around the big easy. look at this video out of louisiana which is in plaquemines parish. if you have been following the isaac coverage this week, it was one of the hardest hit area. a levy spilled over on the eastern side of the mississippi river inundating that community. the water soming in so quickly that many residents had to climb to their roofs and be rescued by boat. listen. >> they had strong winds. it was 80 miles an hour. so there was really no frying to get down here and rescue

people. >> the man you just heard from is a local member of law enforcement who has been using his boat to help people get back to their homes and try to salvage what they can, even though his own home is badly flooded. the best way around many of these communities in fact is by boat because so many are under water and you can see from these aerial pictures why some neighborhoods look more like rivers and lakes. that the hour, about 265,000 people in the state of louisiana are still without power. that is down from the more than 700,000 that were in the dark at the height of the storm. shannon? >> shannon: casey, thanks for your great coverage this week. stay safe. >> you got it, thank you. >> shannon: a top official at immigration and customs enforcement is now out of a job. suzanne barjuca th barr resignd yesterday. she had been on leave from her

job after three employees accused her of creating a sexualize the office culture hostile to men. she says the allegations are unfounded but she resigned to end the distractions. a string of insider attacks spurred the u.s. military to suspend its training of some afghan security forces at least temporarily. officials want to conduct stricter background checks and move to save lives. details now live from kabul. >> reporter: the u.s. military says it is suspending temporarily the training and recruiting of the afghan local police force. local militias trained and equipped and supported by u.s. special forces in rural parts of afghanistan particularly in areas where there isn't an african police and military presence. the idea is to train up locals to fight the insurgency. they even recruited former taliban fighters into the forces. part of the reason it as

controversial program. so far this year we had 45 insider attacks where afghan members of the security services have turned weapons on u.s. and international troops and 45 killed this year alone and it is for are that reason that the u.s. military is suspending the recruiting and training of the afghan local police. it affects about a thousand or so that are are meant to being brought in the program there, for the training. it doesn't impact the overall larger afghan security forces which number about 350,000. and it as bit of a controversial change here in policy because the overwhelming number of insider attacks that have happened this year have come not at the hands of the local militias but at the hands of local afghan police and afghan soldiers. right now the u.s. military is focusing on the militias but police and afghan please and

military raising questions what are they doing to make sure that they are are trained equipped and sufficiently loyal to the afghan government and willing to partner with the u.s. and international forces here. that is the real concern going forward. right you now the u.s. military is temporarily halting the local militias, training and equipping of them to revet them going forward. whether or not it will stop the insider are attacks is the big question here in afghanistan, shannon. >> shannon: thank you. i don't think it is going to get any easier. i don't think those kinds of charges are going to end. >> shannon: next on america's news headquarters. more on our one on one interview with ann romney. the first after her his tore eck convention speech. talks about difficulty of dealing with the negative attacks against her husband and why she thinks they will only get worse. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle --

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>> shannon: we now continue our one on one conversation with ann romney. last hour we learned more about her family life and what happens in the romney home and now mrs. romney budget any has taken the tone of the 2012 campaign and where she thinks it all goes from here. >> you talked about the fact that your husband has been attacked for being successful.

i think over the last few weeks, an ad and i don't know if you have seen it or not from an outside third-party group that implies a connection between his work at bain and a man who lost his job and then lost his wife to cancer. outside third-party fact checking groups called it dishonest and even a number of republican groups called it outrageous. as a wife how do you react to ads like that. >> clearly those are outrageous and offensive. we are talking about a woman's life and that somehow my husband caused her death. it is just horrible. that is outrageous and those things are upsetting. but it is what we are dealing with right now. i expect more of it actually. >> shannon: what do you think about the tone of the campaign moving forward? you don't think it is going to get better do you think it is going to get tougher come november? >> i don't think it will get

easier. i don't think those kinds of charges will end. people need to focus on the real issues. the issues are about economics and huge liabilities we are leaving our children, mortgaging their future. it is about good jobs and opportunity for their children and their grand children and the choice is very clear. if we want a strong economy and a resurgence of economic growth in this country i think there is only person that is going to be able to do that and i'm convinced of that. absolutely convinced of that. i have seen him do it time and time again. he will work tirelessly to make sure that you have more economic prosperity, more jobs. look at all of the kids coming out of college right now, they can't even find a job. this is a real problem. there are real story ares we are hearing out there. i have been out there now for a year and a half and these people are -- that i'm speaking to, these women, these men,

these just college kids that are showing up at our events even, they are pleading with myself and my husband, please help us. and, you know, it is quite astonishing to go out there and to sense. you get a feeling -- i'm intuitive so as a woman i feel like i'm especially intuitive that you get the sense that there is something just wrong out there and that people are really worried, they are really anxious for a change, they need someone to give them solutions and answers that they know. if they keep working harder it is going to get better and right now i think if they think if they keep working harder that is all they will have is to just keep working harder to just tread water and keep your head above water. and they don't want that for their kids. they want their kids to be able to have good jobs. these kids are being underemployed or unemployed right now that are are coming out of college. >> when it comes to tough

issues like employment, taxes and even abortion in the last week or so there has been a lot of discussion about some of these things, do you help your husband and advise and discuss, i imagine that you you would discuss the controversial of it issues, i think about abortion specifically help him think about ways to bridge the conversation or navigate even on issues on this. the gop even within the party has nuances or differences that. >> poor mitt is getting advice from everybody and used to even getting it with me. really with policy i stay clear. the way i try to help him is maybe by approaching it or saying it in a different way or something like that. but he is very clear on the issues and very clear where he stands. and when i was being interviewed and i said oh, no, i don't advise him on policy he was laughing sitting next to me going oh really, that is news to me, surprise. so he is, he gets a lot of

advice from a lot of different people and we try to keep a sense of humor about all of this, too, because there is almost a person -- i mean every person we run into has advice. every person that we have ever known, ever seen. >> shannon: or not known, stranges. >> total stranges are always trying to help us. and it it is nice because you recognize that everyone out there is trying to help. and they don't know how and they want to just help. so we appreciate that. but, you know, it gets overwhelming at times, too. >> shannon: mrs. romney also talked about what role she would play as first lady should her husband win in november. hear about the causes close to her heart and how she hopes to make a difference. a special hour of america's news headquarters coming up at 3:00 eastern. more of the interview with ann romney in that hour. texas says it is in a freedom fight. the federal court blocked the state's voter i.d. law but the

state is not done fighting. the state's attorney general joins us to tell us how far he is willing to take this fight. most of the pain i experience is in my knees. when i think of aspirin, i really think of it as that bottle in the back of my parents' medicine cabinet. finding bayer advanced was huge. i was really surprised by how well it worked. and i'd definitely use it again. put bayer advanced aspirin to the test for yourself at fastreliefchallenge.com. try the #1 gastroenterologist recommended probiotic. align. align naturally helps maintain digestive balance. ♪ ooh, baby, can i do for you today? ♪ try align today. [ wife ] your dad's really giving him the business... the designated hitter's the best thing to happen to baseball! but it's not the same game! [ wife ] wow, he's really gonna get us a good deal. it's better! no it's not! the pitcher comes up and he's out! [ dealer ] he can bunt! whatever. but we're good with pr for 60 months? oh yeah, totally. thank you so much. that must've been brutal.

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democrats arriving though the convention doesn't officially kick off in charlotte until tuesday. the dnc is hoping to make the most accessible convention

ever. it is live streaming the entire event. syrian rebels claiming responsibility for twin bombings in the capital city of damascus today. major military and government security offices located in the area thats hit. four syrian officers injured and two syrian activist groups say that about 5,000 people kelly wrighted in august making iwere killed in august. a mango recall in new jersey. f and f produce company recalled several because of concerns about salmonella. they issued the recall in an abundance of caucuses caution. the state of texas is locked in yet another battle with the federal government over its strict voter i.d. law. the state was dealt a serious blow when a three judge panel ruled that the law violated the voter rights act. texas had the burden of proveing that its voter i.d. law did not adversely empact

minorities. the fight is far from over. texas attorney general greg abbott joins us live from austen. your reaction to the ruling this week? >> shannon, we have only begun to fight about oater i.d. the reality is voter fraud is rampant across the country. look at acorn and the fact that more than 200 dead people voted in the texas premare in the last election and so we are trying to use voter i.d. as one of the ways of cracking down on illegal voting and cheating at the ballot box. secondly, shannon, this lower court ruling divides this country. just four years ago the united states supreme court said that voter i.d. is perfectly constitutional for indiana. why is it that indiana should be able to have voter i.d. but texas is denied voter i.d.? this is exactly why we think the united states supreme court will take this case because we should live under one constitution that applies the same rules for all states. >> shannon: what are the plans

for filing the appeal in the case? >> we have to follow back up with the d.c. here are in the next couple of weeks to finalize our paper work with regard to our challenge to the preapproval component of the voting rights act. here is the deal. texas unlike, indiana, and her states has to have the new you voter rules like voter i.d. preapproved before they can go into effect. the united states supreme court signald that the preapproval component of the voting rights act may be subject to being striken down so we are sending up the paper work to appeal that also to the supreme court and then later on this fall we will file all of the paper work with the united states supreme court hoping to have the voter i.d. validated and may be striking down the preapproval component of the voting rights act. >> shannon: i want to read a bit of the ruling. says that it poses strict unforgiving burdens on the poor and racial minorities are disproportionately more likely to live in poverty. no one would want that to be

the effect, intended or not of a valid law. >> no one wants that to be the effect and texas put protections in our law you similar to the protections put in the law in indiana that was upheld by the united states supreme court. texas is providing photo i.d.s for free to any one who doesn't have one and any one who wants one. what the court was talking about there was kind of surprising in that way. there is different ways of providing the documentation to get a photo i.d. for free. one of which is to show proof of citizenship, a birth certificate. in the state of texas it will cost you $22. in indiana it costs $9. surely the difference between a law being unheld as constitutional and one being unconstitutional is not $13. >> shannon: polling shows that the public is on your are side when it comes to this and whether or not voter i.d. laws are needed to stop illegal voting, 70% said yes and 26% said no and we saw this go across party lines and racial lines and all kinds of

different seths who responded to the poll. you you have the public on your side. how do you think you will convince the nine justices down the street from here. >> first, shannon, you make a very important point. some people think well, gosh, people who are hispanic or african american don't survivors you port vote suppor. latinos in texas strongly support voter i.d. as well as african americans. secondly with regard to convincing the united states supreme court we are just going to appeal for them to apply the same decision they rendered four years ago in the crawford decision if they' ply that to the state of texas voter i.d. law they should uphold our law as being just as constitutional as the indiana law. >> shannon: i say nine but you really only need five. we will it in to watch this it case and others that you have currently on their way to the supreme court. thank you, sir. >> thank you, shannon.

>> shannon: libertarians taking more of the political spot light than ever more. be more on the impact of that group this foe and th novemberw fuhr of that party. >> i give to you the guy that is my hero, my father, ron paul. >> the 7,000 libertarians who packed the university of south, florida, sun dome for a tribute of ron paul may have witnessed the swan song for the texas congressman who turned 77 last week and is not seeking reelection in the house? >> is there anything left for me to say? >> indeed, there was as the federal deficit for an hour. hail -- claiming his own support was double or triple h his meagher vote count because paul libertarian followers "don't feel comfortable coming to a republican primary." >> major paper in washington, d.c. that said the revolution will not be happening.

don't they only wish! paul and his supporters managed to insert flanks on internet freedom. they watched a video tribute to the feisty texan. he was denied a speaking roll at the gop and may never support romney. >> ron is friend of mine. we see eye to eye on a lot of issues and believe in sound government and limited government and economic freedom and the founding principles. >> former new mexico governor gary johnson is reportedly polling just under 10% in colorado meaning he and like minded candidates could siphon off crucial swing state votes and some attending the ron paul event in tampa appeared hungry for such alternatives. >> i will not vote for evil men. if 90% is wad, they are still

evil. >> many plan to return to work from within and promote ron paul's ideas. as one man told us, we are not going away. at republican national convention in tampa, florida, james rosen, fox news. >> shannon: a new documentary from a conservative advocacy group spot lights a specific group of voters, people asking where is the hope and change we voted for in 2008. we will talk to the two men behind the brand new film, next.

he didn't come up with any solutions. >> shannon: a conservative advocacy group is using president obama's own campaign slogan against him. they premiered a new documentary called the hope and the change featuring those that pulled the lever for obama in 2008 and now their hope has turned to disappointment. gentlemen, welcome to you both. >> thanks for having us. >> it has got and lot of feedback and buzz out there. first let me ask you, how did you find the 2008 voters who voted for the president back then and maybe not so much this time around. >> we went and focused groups who voted for president obama in 2008. pat gudell a democratic

pollster headed up the focus grouping and we went around the country to battleground states city after city marching around trying to locate these folks. we went at the process thinking we would have 6 or 8 or are 10 and ended up with 40 in the film and so many more that could have been. >> this is a year of logistics. we were thinking when it came down to this part of the psych it will would be the undecideds that were people that voted for president obama and were either thinking of not voting or voting against him. it took almost a year in logistics to do a ton of focus groups. we had a huge pool of people to choose from. >> shannon: who is the intended hearnce to watch the film and the people's storys. >> we made the fill tomorrow start a conversation amongst what i call the regan coalition. not the republicans that made up the regan coalition but the democrats and independents that made it up.

the average americans. the ones who through common sense and through solid central policies can be he brought over to the romney campaign and really this is a much more through sorrow than an anger group of people. they supported the president and they wanted barack obama to succeed and now they are disappointed. >> shannon: let's take a quick break to play a little bit of the film and people can get a clip of it. >> my entire life i voted democrat. >> i'm a life long democrat. >> i'm a democrat. >> registered in dehe pendent. >> independent. >> democrat. >> democrat. >> it is just the choice i made in my teens to go democratic. that is what i thought would be the right choice. >> been in off and on since 1970. >> florida. >> des moines, iowa. >> northeast ohio. >> virginia. >> i really believe in the fall

of '08 there would be change. people were desperate. >> i needed some hope because i was at a point in my life where i was hopeless. >> and our planet began to heal. >> a great speak. the best part of the sale. >> shannon: we see that these are people from across the spectrum and across the country. what did you find when they began telling their story. >> this is 7 battleground states and these are the counties and districts that are the ones most in play. like richmond, virginia. northeast ohio. around the suburbs of denver. the untold story is microtargetting and data mining. this is how david axelrod is looking at the campaign through the undecideds that he has to carry. quite frankly you see at the beginning these people invested so much in president obama for two things. one, bring the country together and the other was focus maniacally on the economic

issues and financial crisis. and i believe as you see the film that people believe that he has let them down. >> shannon: when anybody comes in with that much expectation and excitement there is going to be falloff. >> and there is. you you can find people who supported president bush who then didn't. this is a process. to be candid that is what makes america so great. you can decide hey i made a mistake and it is okay to change it and to fix it and that is what we have elections for and that is what i think these 40 people are really a microcross many and people can watch this film and say that is me and they speak for me as well and that is what we are hoping to start this conversation with. >> shannon: the hope and change. thank you for giving us a preview. >> thanks. >> shannon: what really happened when navy seals took out osama bin laden? a first hand account is raising a lot of questions. stay tuned. will

>> shannon: a new book is raising questions about the details of the navy seal raid on the bin laden compound. ithey contradict accounts from administration officials. peter doocy is checking out

that and the other most clicked stories. hi, peter. >> it offers a first hand account of the night osama bin laden was killed and raises a lot of questions. administration officials insisted bin laden's body was treated with respect throughout but the author says during the cramped helicopter ride back to afghanistan a seal was sitting on bin laden's chest. you can read the rest of that story on fox news .com. another popular story online the resignation of a high ranking homeland security official former immigration customs enforcement chief of staff suzanne barr has been accused of sexual harassment by several dhs employee injured she denies the allegations and calls the lawsuit a distraction from the agency's critical work. the world's oldest message in a bottle found by fishermen in scotland. one of near early 2,000 bottles released as a government experiment to map the undercurrents around scotland. the 98-year-old bottle included

a post card asking the finder to record details of the discovery and find it and would be rewarded with a 6p but that is hard to find these days since they no longer exist. >> that is a really cool story. there were a lot of crabby people at the maryland state fair yesterday but that wasn't a bad thing. handy international broke its world record for the world's largest crab cake. they baked a 300-pounder. took 200-pounds of crab meat and ten hours to cook this. the previous world record breaking crab cake weighed in at a 250-pounds. she is just one of the guys. erin made history. she is presumed to be the first female quarterback in florida high school football history. her parents were worried about her being tackled but now they are just happy to see her

daughter's dream coming true. we asked you answered. did you ever. your twitter responses on the dnc convention are next.

>> shannon: you guys and gals out there were fired up about our twitter question today. we asked if you planned to watch any of the dnc speeches and what you are looking forward to. a lot agreed with eric who said haven't we heard it all before?

we had four years of these speeches, no, i will not watch the convention. others like michael only plan to catch the highlights. only obama'sed a clintons speeches matter and what matters most is obama's record. if i miss them i won't lose any sleep. thanks for sharing. we have move responses during today's special edition of america's news headquarters back with you at 3:00 eastern. meanwhile, message is one of the biggest political factors of any conventions. what message do democrats hope and need to send in charlotte. joining us for a fair and balanced debate, shawn spicer and brad woodhouse. welcome to you both. >> good evening. >> thank you so much. >> all right, shawn, i got to ask you, the president's team, the president himself has said romney didn't get it done in tampa. that there were platy todays in speeches but no concrete steps for how he plans to change

things. how do you respond? >> first, i think governor romney outlined a five point plan to get america back to work and put people back into careers. get us energy independent and open up barriers for free trade. the problem that brad and his team will have this week is they have to answer a simple question are you better off than you were four years ago and the answer is no. more debt. more people out of work. hardly energy independent. every one of the promises that the president made in 2008 when came before the american people with a slogan of hope and change is gone. and they have got to -- they admitted it today and television. their surrogates one after another said americans aren't better off and hope and change is gone. robert gibbs is saying that the the glitter and ga and glam fr8 is gone. americans are not better off than they were four years ago. even jimmy carter record looks

better compared to this president. >> shannon: how much will the president talk about his record and looking forward and what he hopes to accomplish if he is around for another four years. >> let me say this. it wasn't just democrats that said that mitt romney's convention was a disaster. bill kristol said he didn't talk about the troops and afghanistan and didn't outline specifics and they promised an 11 point bump out of the convention and got no bump at all. by the way, i got an enty chair here for you because i know how republicans like empty chair. let me ask the question that shawn put to the american people. are the american people better off than they were four years ago. the answer is, yes. we were losing 800,000 jobs a month when the president came into office. we he had a plane going like this straight to the ground and the president got the stick and pulled it up out of the steep decline and it is on the climb again. it is not where it needs to be because republicans failed to work with us to move the

country forward. >> shannon: shawn, i know you are -- >> i know you are ambitious but did you promise an 11 point bump out of the convention? that is very ambitious? >> no, i don't know, i think that these are the same type of people that brad is talking to that say that we are better off because anybody that thinks we are better off. >> shawn, your side gave a power point presentation that promised an 11 point bump out of your convention. >> shannon: let's give shawn a chance to respond. >> i would say that -- to my recollection, nobody that i'm aware of except for the same people that probably thinks that we are better off in this country predicted anything like that. i think brads it statistics and image of america are exactly where this country is. second, i would argue if that is the message they will go after this week we applaud them because if you think that this country is headed in the right direction with 42 months of unemployment over 8.3%. energy independent is not even a glimmer of hope. debt skyrocketing past

$16 trillion. they will open their convention as america crosses $16 trillion of debt and we will head into the 43rd straight month this friday of unemployment over 8%. that is not a record to campaign on and i don't think we will get many people talking about their accomplishments because we don't have any. >> shannon: brad, your response? >> we had 29 consecutive months of job growth. no thanks to republicans who have done everything they could to stand in the way of any progress. 4.5 million jobs created in the private sector. george bush lost 3 million jobs in the last three months. so if you say losing three million jobs in the last three months of his administration or having 4.5 million jobs created in the last 29 months of the president's administration isn't better than you are simply fooling yourself. shawn, you can't say losing 3 million in three or gaining 4.5 million in 30, you can't say losing 3 million in three

is better. if it is it is no wonder that y'all are behind in the race and behind in the battleground states. >> shannon: shawn? >> i think that you will hear three days of blame and excuses and no discussion of accomplishments because america is not better off. and i think that to try to sell that message is a big mistake. they are bringing in jimmy carter. lincoln of rhode island. one of the biggest failed governors to talk about the way forward. this is the problem they don't have a record to run on. they don't have a consciousness to run on and they are forced to bring in jimmy carter. >> shannon: we have to leave it right there or we will be cut off the air. >> gm is alive and osama bin laden is dead. >> shannon: that is it for us here in washington. for now, "fox news sunday" is next. campaign senior strategist david axelrod is talking exclusively to chris wallace. stick around because we will be back with more news. america's news headquarters a special hour at